Ivanka Trump holds roundtable on online sex trafficking bill

By

Daniel Uria

Ivanka Trump, the daughter of President Donald Trump, held a bipartisan round table discussion with members of Congress and the private sector on legislation to fight online sex trafficking Thursday. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

The Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act would make it easier to take legal action internet platforms for enabling sex trafficking on their sites.

"I have discussed these pieces of legislation with almost everyone in this room over the past several months and commend you on getting us where we are today," Trump said. "On behalf of the president and administration, we want to thank all the members here today for your leadership and commitment to end the shameful and tragic crime of online sex trafficking."

The bill would remove an exception to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act which protects websites from legal liability for content posted by third parties.

Some tech groups including TechFreedom and Engine, which weren't invited to the meeting, proposed changes to the bill after expressing its removal of websites' liability protections for third-party content could hurt startups.

IBM's vice president of government and regulatory affairs, Christopher Padilla, said the company encourages lawmakers to pass the bill "without any weakening amendments."

Facebook and the Internet Association trade group, which includes Google, initially opposed the bill, but announced support in November after senators clarified websites must knowingly facilitate trafficking to be found in violation of the law.